The modern teams that have had sustained success have usually bent over backwards to sign the goalie that brought them success. Quick, Crawford, Rask, Fleury, Binnington, and of course Vasi. All of them won and then were rewarded handsomely to stay.
Right, I think that's what I am really trying to generally process. Pre-Cap, there seemed to be a pretty steady model of execution here through the 90's and 00's. And then looking through the various Cup Winners in the 00's onward...
Blackhawks - Honestly, this team was built on speed, and overwhelming scoring from a parade incredibly talented wings - outside of Toews - I would struggle to point at any depth down the middle - Bolland? Handzus? The corpse of Brad Richards? - but their wingers were unreal: Kane, Hossa, Buff, Bickell, Saad, Sharpe, Shaw, Versteeg, Ladd, Brouwer, etc. Those Hawks teams were fast, unrelating, and could score at the drop of a hat.
Bruins - Elite Goaltender from Thomas and an absurdly deep team. Not exactly an elite level, top end talent; but dangerous, physical up and down all four lines with a heavy emphasis on two-way play; Top point leader on that team? Krejci with 62pts - good for 44th overall in the league. This team was built on depth and physicality.
Pens - I'll concede, that team is truly built on having Elite Centers. Period. Crosby/Malkin is as good of a Cup Champion Tandem as any of the elite 1-2's we've seen in the last 30 years: Yzerman/Federov, Sakic/Forsberg, Lecavalier/Richards ....and I guess if we stretched that definition: Modano/Neiwendyk, Staal/Brind'Amour
Kings - This team was built on the back of Kopitar and Doughty - 1C and 1D. I would not call Richards or Carter high ceiling talent in their first Cup and certainly not in their second. This team was a 1st Line/1st Pair kind of team with a whole bunch of sandpaper behind them and an elite goalie in Quick who was out of his mind.
Caps - Sure. They finally cracked their code after a decade of trying and it came on the back of Kuzy's breakout and giving them them another elite Center at just the right time.
Blues - Um...no? I would not call RoR an Elite Level C in the NHL, and I couldn't even tell you who was the 2nd C...I'd be guessing. Perron? This team was another that was a lot like the Bruins - just really well rounded, diverse, and deep. I wouldn't exactly call any of them elite ceiling superstars - outside of Pietrangelo, a Norris Level Defenseman.
Lightning - Absurd.
Across this board, there isn't a tried a true sample template here. Some pulled it off with good balance (BOS, STL) , others with an overloaded Top Line (LA), some did it with Elite Talent down the middle (TB, PIT, WAS) , but others pulled it off with wingers (CHI). Some had elite goalies spinning on their heads at the top of their games...others had just a guy.
Coincidentally, the 1 thing that they all had was...1x Norris Level Defenseman (Keith, Chara, Letang, Doughty, Carlson, Pietrangelo, Hedman). So maybe the Wings already have their cornerstone to build their contender? (That was a joke - I don't think we're ready yet. Weapons down, boys)